Ice Cream Sandwich nears launch; Honeycomb apps will be compatible

With the launch of Ice Cream Sandwich a.k.a Android 4.0 rapidly approaching, we have an idea as to what to expect and what not to.

Almost an year ago, when Google launched Android 2.3 Gingerbread with the Nexus S, we were surprised with the amount of new features it brought to the table (NFC comes to mind). But sadly enough, NFC hasn’t quite been able to catch up with the users so far.

But manufacturers are slowly starting to implement the technology in smartphones and there is no doubt that it will be talked about in the coming days. Google Wallet which makes payments on your Android device easier using NFC, was showed off by Google in May. This goes to show that NFC will be used extensively in the coming days.

Ice Cream Sandwich, which will take the Android legacy further, is touted to be a bridge between Honeycomb and Gingerbread. As of now, Honeycomb and Gingerbread are two separate operating systems. But if Google launches a unified OS for smartphones and tablets alike, we will certainly have a winner in our hands.

The fact of the matter is that, Google has learnt from its past. There was a time when Google rolled out major OS update within a small time frame which often led to criticism from the users as well as developers. But now, Google has decided to take things slow and rightly so.

A unified OS in the form of ICS will make app development much easier for the developers. This will finally mean that Honeycomb apps can be used on smartphones and vice versa.

Ultimately, Google wants Android to emerge on top leaving behind its nemesis iOS behind. We are expecting the first ICS phone in the form of Nexus Prime to break cover sometime during November. Watch this space for more on Ice Cream Sandwich.